Mai-Evy's second birthday.

Lars, Melissa and Mai-Evy were her over Easter and Mai-Evy's second birthday was on Easter Sunday. So I'll post some pics from their time here. They are moving to the Twin Cities in June and are looking for a place to either house sit or rent. Anyone know of anything?

The revenge of the lamp post!

Having a young energetic dog goes a long way towards keeping me from being a slug. My late evening walks with Trygve usually take me through the streets of downtown Mpls. We were walking down 8th street the other night when Trygve sidled up to a lamp post. Then he yelped and leaped back with a very surprised look on his face. Apparently he'd received an electric shock from the lamp post. Fortunately it didn't cause any neurosis.

Recent Books.

Sarah's Key by Tatania de Rosnay was our last book club selection. Her writing was exceptional and the device in the early part of having chapters in alternating voices helped to ameliorate the difficulty of reading the description of the Holocaust. I'd put this near the top of the books I've read. My Norwegian friend, Berger, gave me The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen when he was here last fall. 764 pages long it is aptly described by a blurb on the cover by the INDEPENDENT, "Bruising and brilliant...This is a great river of a book...Magnificent...Unique." In the book the protagonist's grandmother worked at the telephone exchange and then says this about cell phones, "And later the Exchange itself was shut down as there was one great explosion of verbal diarrhoea n the 1990s; the whole industry was privatized and thrown to the four winds. It was impossible to get away from cordless conversation-the most intimate of things were shouted out as restaurant tables, secrets were spilled in supermarket queues and at bus stops. You were forced to listen to other people's arguments, threats and billing and cooing-in short society became one big bedroom where everyone talked to everyone else but mostly to themselves, and no one had anything to say." p. 593 My sentiments exactly!

The compassion of stangers.

Today I went to get a haircut from my barber, Maria, who owns her own business. She immigrated from Mexico some years ago and many of her customers are Latino. Her shop is typically open Monday through Saturday.

For two Sundays, March 27 and April 3, she will be open for business. Haircuts will be $10.00 and the whole $10.00 will be donated to Red Cross for Japan relief. The fliers announcing this plan are printed in Spanish which makes me think that she's really targeting the Latino community with this effort.

Energizing!

I just met with my friend, KW, a retired ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, to brainstorm teaching ideas for my teaching in Thailand. The first year I taught in Thailand I shared a house with several other volunteers some of whom were teachers. They were a great resource for me. Additionally there was a huge stash of educational material in "our" house. When I went back last year I shared a different house with one volunteer who had no teaching experience. Not only that, all the educational materials were gone. This year I stayed as the only volunteer with a Thai family.
One effect of these changes was that my teaching repertoire was wearing rather thin. KW bubbles with ideas and resources for teaching, though she tells me that I'm teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language). Whichever I'm doing, she has so many creative ideas that I'm energized and I think my teaching will be more engaging, effective and fun.
Bringing a second suitcase is one idea that emerged. Typically I bring one small suitcase and small carry on. However, on international flights two checked bags are permitted per passenger. One could be filled with educational materials and I could store it at the school for my use when I return.
She also directed me to some helpful web sites. Previously when I clicked on 'ESL' I got about 100,000 hits. Attempting to wade through them for something helpful was more than I could manage. Finding the right website will be a boon.
Can't wait to try out some of these ideas!

Curmudgeonette Report

Joanne's back fusion operation of November 9, 2009 was only partially successful. The upper part of the fusion is solid. Unfortunately the lower part, in the sacroiliac, the screws did not hold. The effect of this has been constant, severe and increasing pain.
After several consultations and much thought and prayer Joanne has opted for restorative surgery to re-anchor the screws. The surgery is scheduled for March 7, at Abbott Northwestern Hospital...same surgeon, same hospital.
To keep family and friends posted on her progress she has reactivated her Caringbridge page which gives more information. I will keep it up to date during and after surgery until such time as she is ready to self report. To access her page go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/jnegstad

Why I like SDak!

Edith's pond, across the street from the Sinai house.

The Sinai house at -20 degrees.

When the curmudgeonette and I bought a house in Sinai, SD the local postmistress said that made us eligible for a post office box. So we now proudly claim Box 34, Sinai, S.D., 57106 as our SDak address.

Today I made a quick stop in Sinai on a business matter. It was my first time there since my last pheasant hunting trip ended December 15. I went to the post office to check my mail box and found it full of advertisers (The Yellow Paper). In conversation with the postmistress I said that perhaps I should fill out a '"Temporarily Away" form because I didn't expect to be in town again until April. She said "Don't bother. You don't get very much mail but if something comes for you I'll tell your brother." Minneapolis has much going for it but not that kind of service.

The only place to buy gas in Sinai is at the grain elevator. The pump is across the street from the elevator office. When I buy gas, I pump my gas and then walk across the street to report how much gas I got and pay for it. Again, that is not the procedure in Minneapolis.